I Like Our Dog

Please, don't tell my family. I will not admit to my family that I like our boy as much as I do, because I drew a proverbial line in the sand as we made plans to adopt him into our family. I made it clear that he is their dog and I don't intend to care for him or bear the responsibility at all.

This is because I have spent years cleaning up after people and pets, recall my widely spaced children. When I was a girl my parents were firm about us kids cleaning up after our pets. Obedient child that I was, I did, and I was fine with that. As I grew up, I still had pets to clean up after, and got married and had a husband to clean up after. Then I had kids and I have been cleaning up diapers and puke and all the messes that being a mother entails (example).

When I had a choice to limit my responsibilities, by opting to not have pets for a long stretch of time, it was easy to get used to not having that extra stuff to do. The constant vacuuming, the occasional flea troubles, the vet visits and bills. For awhile I just didn't miss it all. When my family began pushing really hard to get a pet, I did not acquiesce. I would not agree to it unless they shouldered the duty.

This became a crystal-clear bone of contention (haha) when we first moved to the Keys and our boy had a vet appointment which I refused to take him to. But that it not a story I'm going to tell here. That was some domestic discord.

I'm more of a cat person myself, but I had both dogs and cats over the years, and I have loved them all. But this dog is by far the best behaved, now that he's mellowed a bit. Our boy is a male border collie-yellow lab mix, and he is just over 2 years old. I have to admit I like him now. He's a pretty good dog. He was a royal pest of a puppy. He made my back hurt for 3 days one time when I walked him and he tried to yank me every way his nose thought to lead him. I worried about him for a short time when he got real snarly and grouchy with Calvin, our youngest child. I thought to get rid of him then, but somehow the pecking order was reestablished and he knows he can't usurp Calvin's place in the pack. He has calmed down quite a bit. He's neither bark-y or jumpy. He's crate trained and house trained. He never runs away from me any more, I can let him out without a leash and he will do his business and return to me when I call. He has never chewed on and ruined anything important. He sticks to his raw-hides and the occasional stuffed animal, or maybe and old bottle he's rummaged from the recycling bin (he reuses it then reduces it). He is quite different than the other beloved family pets who destroyed shoes, got up on kitchen counters after food, urinated on purses, and really made a mess of certain embarrassing items they rooted out of the trash.

He's just a good dog that keeps getting better.

So I continue to play indifferent around the family. Keeps them on their toes, and me off of doggie duty and P.U.P (picking up poop). You see, if I show too much affection for OB, they will surely begin to place more and more of his care under my responsibility and believe me, I have enough to do already!

Now, hushhhh, ya'll...I him!

Interesting Photo

The above photo circulated the internet many (?) years ago and it stunned and fascinated me when I first saw it. After a little research over at snopes.com I was relieved to learn that the sea creature is a dolphin and not a shark! But, Oh what a picture! What gives me chills is that at first glance I thought it was a shark. I was not alone in that assessment. Then there is the size of the dolphin (9-10 ft.?) compared to the size and proximity of the surfer. Look closely at the dorsal fin, it's curved and the tail fin is horizontal rather than vertical, characteristic of dolphins and porpoises.

My family moved to Florida when I was in my early teens, and for a short time we lived in Indiatlantic, at a condo right on the beach. I remember swimming alone in the ocean one day, chest deep in the water. I was facing the horizon, when in front of me and a little to the right a dorsal fin cut through the surface o the ocean. It was about 10 feet away from me. I froze. The adrenalin coursed through my body but I could not move. I was so relieved when the body beneath the dorsal fin curved into a hump and I realized it was a dolphin. Still, being that close to something wild and that big, frightened me. I'll never forget it.

laugh a little and a good link

A pastor, a doctor and an engineer were waiting one morning for a particularly slow group of golfers. The engineer fumed, "What's with these guys? We must have been waiting for 15 minutes!" The doctor chimed in, "I don't know, but I've never seen such ineptitude! "The pastor said, "Hey, here comes the greens keeper. Let's have a word with him." [dramatic pause]

"Hi, George. Say, what's with that group ahead of us? They're rather slow, aren't they?"

The greens keeper replied, "Oh, yes, that's a group of blind firefighters. They lost their sight saving our clubhouse from a fire last year, so we always let them play for free anytime."

The group was silent for a moment.

The pastor said, "That's so sad. I think I will say a special prayer for them tonight."

The doctor said, "Good idea. And I'm going to contact my ophthalmologist buddy and see if there's anything he can do for them."

The engineer said, "Why can't these guys play at night?"

How to Get Into Heaven

A man dies and mets St. Peter at the Pearly Gates. Peter says to the man, "Here's how it works. You need to have one hundred points to get into heaven. You tell me about all the good things you've done. They are all worth a certain number of points. If your total is one hundred or more, you can come in."

"Well," says the man. "I was happily married to the same woman for 52 years. I never looked at another woman. I was attentive and loved her dearly."

"That's great," says St. Peter. "That'll be two points."

"Hmmm," says the man. "This is going to be harder than I thought. Well, I attended church regularly, volunteered my time and tithed faithfully."

"Wonderful," says St. Peter, "That's worth another point."

"One point!" says the man. "Okay, okay. I was involved with a prison ministry for twenty-five years. I went into the prison, at least monthly, and shared Jesus with them."

"Wow!" says St. Peter. "That's another two points!"

"Only two points!" says the man. "At this rate, it'll be only by the grace of God that'll I'll ever get into this place."

"Bingo!" says St. Peter. "That's one hundred points! Come on in."
from: jokesclean.com

I love this post I found at The Sacred Sandwich.

Communication Breakdown

I came across a quote by Robert McCloskey the other day:


"I know you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant."


It made me smile, because I had found myself in exactly such a situation about a week ago. Mind you, it was not exactly a a happy smile, but a wry smile of familiarity. In the course of what I thought was a conversation between friends, I said something that made the my friend clam up and walk away. I didn't realize this at first because it happened while at work. Conversations there are fragmented, secondary things. Our first priority is the work at hand, the care and safety of the dear little children as they play on the playground. Our playground conversations, if we're even able to have them, are subject to numerous interruptions and postponements if we want to chat a bit about our lives. I found out later on, when I decided to see if the proverbial chill in the air was in fact a chill, that I had pushed a button, touched a nerve, and otherwise made a person mad. Then I got chewed out.

I think that I have been in ministry long enough to suppress the usual first reaction we have when confronted, and that is to just defend oneself. I usually go a little too far the other way, and I'm hard on myself. I rake my conscience to see if I was a fault and somehow offended one of the folks God has placed in my path for care and ministry. The bible says we are servant-leaders, and ambassadors for Christ. Though, I thought I was wearing the "friend hat" that day, more than the "ministry hat" I know that I am always on duty as a minister's wife.

After some thought and consideration I believe a word I chose was what set my friend off. What I thought I was conveying to my friend was sympathy and understanding. However, I used a word in passing, to describe the situation, that is wrought with (prejudicial) meaning for her. Hearing that word describe her situation, was all it took to upset her, regardless if the speaker was using it to convey sympathy or criticism. All she heard was a word that made her see red.

Anyway, she apologized since then, and that makes me even more relieved I did not try to "fight back" in any way. Let go and let God.

Random

I came across this unusual resume, found here. That is exactly the kind of resume an artistic person ought to have, and I am inspired! I think and hope that for the kinds of jobs I'm interested in, employers would enjoy this kind of resume, and take it seriously despite it's whimsy. Potential employers that were turned off by this sort of resume would be weeded out because [we] wouldn't be compatible.



Big Daddy bought us some new coffee cups and I like them very much. We are down to our last jumbo mug from our old set, we have broke them all over the past several years. Of course our old set is discontinued, though I could find some things on ebay. I was mulling over this in my procrastinating kind of way, and making Big Daddy drink from a regular sized (read SMALL) coffee mug because I was using the last large one for myself. To be fair to myself, I am usually the first one up and you know that saying about the early riser getting the primo coffee mug. Should I order the old kind from ebay, after all we have the matching dishes and bowls still, and we like them; OR should I find something new? It has to be large and somehow funky, colorful, etc., like our previous set. All the while, putting it off and not doing anything. Big Daddy saved the day and just went ahead and ordered. He opted for large and simple and it really works! Mmmmm...
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Every once in awhile, I just think to myself, what if today (or tonight) is the day that Zombies take over? Maybe I should be doing more cardio? Are the doors secure? Where's my baseball bat? Do you ever have crazy-silly random thoughts like that?

Along those same lines of thought, but of course more seriously, what if today is the day Jesus returns? Wouldn't that be nice? If Jesus was to come, say 5 minutes from now, what do you think you would like to have done? And conversely, what do you wish you'd left undone?

Journal Entry - Monday April 8, 2010

On Monday I needed to take a walk to clear my head after work. I simply walked to the end of my street and gazed at the ocean. To the southwest the sun was setting. The sun behind the thick clouds gave a very faint orange and yellow glow, but the rest of the sky was a lavender gray haze. In fact, directly in front of me the sky and the water faded right into one another, and I could not tell where one ended and the other began. The ocean was so smooth and glassy, there was no distinct horizon. I took a deep breath. I smelled that unmistakable salty, faintly seaweed-ish mix. That reminds me of good things and blessings.
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After a break and a fast, I'm back.

Dear Abby: New Year Offers Each Of Us The Chance For A Fresh Start - EagleTribune.com, North Andover, MA

I don't have much to say for now. Today I did read Dear Abby: New Year Offers Each Of Us The Chance For A Fresh Start - EagleTribune.com, North Andover, MA

Posted using this. I thought it was good enough to link to here. With all the co-dependent issues I have been laying at the foot of Christ's cross and seeking His assistance to overcome, it encourages me.

Happy New Year ~ And May all of you experience the peace and love of Jesus Christ! May you know He's real, and that He really loves you. May He teach and guide us all to be more like Him! Then there would be peace on earth and plenteous goodwill between us all! That was my FB greeting and I'm sharing it here.